I am asking my colleagues in government and in opposition to support this Independent Ireland motion for one very simple reason. When it comes to protecting children, there can be no confusion about who is responsible and right now there is too much confusion. When something goes wrong in child protection in this country, what happens? The Department points to Tusla and Tusla points to the procedures and the Minister points to the fact that they do not deal with operational matters. The families are left standing there, waiting for help, for answers and for someone - anyone - to take responsibility. That is not good enough. This is not about the front-line staff, the social workers or the people on the ground. They are doing their level best. They are stretched and under pressure and many of them are carrying far more than they should have to. The system they are working in is where the problem lies. I see it every week in west Cork. Families come in the door at their wits' end. Referrals are made and nothing happens. Calls are made and no clear answers are obtained. The situation is getting worse while the system moves at its own pace. When we, as public representatives, try to intervene, we hit a wall and are told it is a matter for Tusla and that is the end of it. What good is that to a child who needs help today, not six months down the line? Without going into details, I had one case where a family waited and waited for engagement. They told me they did not know who to turn to any more. We recently encountered another case involving prolonged and serious sexual abuse for many years within a family home. This raises fundamental questions about Tusla's response. Where was the agency during this period? Why was action not taken? How were some of the most vulnerable individuals in our society left unprotected for so long? I had another recent case which involved a 14-year-old girl who was being groomed online by a man in his 40s. The child's mother sought assistance from Tusla and the girl was subsequently taken into care. However, the foster placement lacked adequate supervision, allowing the young girl to continue communicating with the perpetrator via her mobile phone. This was an extremely dangerous situation that should not have been allowed to occur under State care. I have another case where the mother was accused of inappropriate behaviour involving one of her own children. The children were removed from her care. The social worker involved is a neighbour of the children's father, giving rise to concerns of a potential conflict of interest. There are indications that proper procedures may not have been followed by either the social worker or Tusla. The mother was interviewed by An Garda Síochána and a file has been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions. However, it now appears unlikely that any charges will be brought. The social worker involved and three additional Tusla staff members have been reported to CORU and are currently under investigation. In this particular case, it would appear that Tusla may have acted with undue haste in reaching a conclusion before all appropriate assessments and safeguards were in place. Then we look at the structures of the system. Hundreds of organisations are funded, layers upon layers, different streams, different processes and different lines of communication. Do not get me wrong, there is good work being done, but the system itself is too scattered, complicated and hard to follow. When something is too complicated, accountability gets lost and people fall through the cracks. Our motion is not about tearing anything down overnight. It is about asking a fair question, namely, is this structure working as it should? If it is not, are we willing to do something about it? Let us be honest, if everything was working perfectly, families would not be coming to us in distress. They would not be chasing responses. They would not feel that they are being passed around from one place to another, but they are and we all know it. What our motion is proposing is the common-sense approach of having an independent look at the system, laying out the options clearly and, if change is needed, doing it properly, carefully and in a way that protects services. That is not radical; it is responsible. If there is even a chance that changing the structure could speed things up, make accountability clear and deliver better outcomes for children, we have a duty to look at it seriously and not dismiss it, delay it or kick it down the road again. I urge all Deputies to support Independent Ireland's motion.

Sentiment score: 0.06